UAE | Crime

19-year-old granted custody of unborn child

Abu Dhabi: A 19-year-old woman has been granted custody of her unborn child after a court in Abu Dhabi found that she had been remarried before the Sharia’prescribed period of waiting had lapsed.

The girl’s father has, on the other hand, been sentenced to three months in jail for arranging the marriage of his daughter without waiting for the lapse of the mandatory period of waiting after a divorce. According to Sharia law, a woman must wait for at least three months after a divorce before getting married again.

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department said the woman, whose nationality was not mentioned, had suffered a series of traumatic marriages with elderly men.

At first, her wedding was arranged with an 80-year-old, who physically abused her for a month before she returned to her parent’s home without notifying him. Her husband then filed a case with the police, alleging that his wife had run away with another man.

When the woman’s family was notified of the allegations, they arranged for a divorce from the husband.

Just 45 days after the first divorce had been finalised, the 19-year-old was married off to a 75-year-old, who was verbally abusive. When the 19-year-old returned to her parent’s house, she discovered she was pregnant.

Due to the short period of time between her two marriages, it was at first unclear which man had fathered the child. The Abu Dhabi Court therefore granted a divorce to the victim from her second husband and ordered him to provide for the child.